Weight drop too tough for Dunn

Weight drop too tough for Dunn - Yahoo7

Caulfield Guineas winning jockey Dwayne Dunn will not attempt to get down to the light weight of 49.5kg to continue his association with All Too Hard if Team Hawkes decides to back up the Guineas winner in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on October 27.

Dunn produced a stunning ride aboard All Too Hard in Saturday's $1 million Caulfield Guineas to come from last to first and upset the unbeaten Gai Waterhouse-trained boom three-year-old colt Pierro.

And Dunn was considering trying to shed some 4kg in order to make the weight to ride the three-year-old in the Cox Plate.

But speaking on Melbourne radio station RSN on Monday morning, Dunn said it would be too difficult for him to get down to such a light weight in less than a fortnight.

"I made that decision this morning," he said.

"I would have to lose 4kg and it probably would have been detrimental to myself and my health.

"And I didn't want to put pressure on the owners and have them worrying about whether I would have been physically strong enough to ride the horse at that weight on the day."

The four-time Blue Diamond winning jockey said whoever picks up the ride on All Too Hard in the Cox Plate would be 'picking up a great ride'.

Dunn said he had no doubt that All Too Hard - despite being the little brother of superstar unbeaten sprinter Black Caviar - would be able to run the 2040m distance of the Cox Plate.

"I think his best distance is in the mile (1600m) to 2000m range," Dunn said.

Dunn said the key to All Too Hard's stunning form turnaround in the Guineas on Saturday - after three failed runs in Sydney earlier this spring - was the fact the race was run at a genuine tempo and was not a sit-and-sprint affair as his earlier races in Sydney had been.

"He got a fast-run race and he settled down beautifully and as you saw on Saturday, he has a beautiful finish on him," Dunn said.

Co-trainer Wayne Hawkes told Sportal that no decision had been made yet on whether All Too Hard will back up in the Cox Plate but said the horse had pulled up in great order after his win in the Guineas.

While most punters are expecting All Too Hard to progress to the Cox Plate - he has moved from as much as $51 in markets before the weekend into as short as $7 fourth favourite in some revised markets - Hawkes said the stable would do what was best for the horse.

"Remember we didn't run Lonhro in the 2001 Cox Plate as a three-year-old after he won the Caulfield Guineas that year when everyone said we should and he was something like a 7-2 ($4.50) favourite to win the Cox Plate that year after his win in the Guineas," Hawkes said.

"But you only get one chance at a Cox Plate as a three-year-old with the light weight (under the weight-for-age scale) and I would love to see All Too Hard and Pierro clash again in the Cox Plate."